Business Growth On TikTok: Creative Tips For Maximum Engagement

In 2016, when TikTok was launched, it became famous as a “dance challenges platform.” Who thought that fast forward a few years, this platform would transform into a powerful tool for businesses from where they can drive customers and expand their sales? But this is actually what this platform is doing.

Now, it’s a channel that serves as an audience for businesses. Whether someone is looking for a channel through which they can connect with their audience authentically and engagingly or a platform to capture a widespread audience, TikTok offers it all, as it allows all content creators to go viral.

But can any TikTok user go viral just after posting a few videos? So, it’s a big no. Although the TikTok algorithm supports small creators to make the most of this platform, creators need to go a bit extra. But what exactly to do? Read this guide to learn more about some proven tips used by leading TikTok growth service providers to boost the presence of businesses.

Why TikTok Is A Game Changer For Businesses?

Businesses are always looking for “audience hotspots” where they can most effectively pitch their services or products. According to the statistics of 2023, there are more than 1 billion TikTok users, including people of all ages and nationalities.

This is the foremost reason it is a “hotspot” where finding the target audience is more accessible and pitching them without being salesy is possible for everyone.

Another reason a TikTok profile is a game changer for businesses is that 60% of the TikTok user base comprises GenZ and Millennials. So, it is a prime spot for companies looking forward to engaging with these demographics.

Apart from these reasons, another major factor behind this platform’s appeal is its high engagement rates. The platform’s algorithm is designed to promote organic content, meaning videos can go viral even if they’re from small accounts.

Unlike other social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook, where paid promotions dominate reach, its “For You page” curates content based on user behavior, not follower count. This makes discoverability more accessible.

63% of TikTok users say they learned about a specific brand after watching a viral video. This claim clearly shows that this platform highly influences consumer behavior.

5 Tips How To Grow Business On TikTok

Here are 5 proven hacks that have the potential to boost the businesses:

Identify Your Target Audience

Creating generic content and expecting a good reach is like choosing a wild goose. Like the other social media platforms, if you want to grow your TikTok followers, the first and foremost thing they need to have is a good understanding of for whom they are creating content. Here’s what they need to do for a better understanding of the audience:

Identify Audience Preferences: Businesses should begin by observing how TikTok users interact on TikTok. They should determine whether the audience resonates more with humorous skits, educational tutorials, or viral challenges. After a thorough analysis, companies can create videos that appeal to their followers.

Use Analytics: It also offers a premium that allows businesses to access Analytics. This tool gives businesses insights into followers’ demographics, engagement patterns, and video performance.

Brands can optimize their posting schedule and content strategy by tracking metrics such as video views, follower growth, and peak activity times.

Align With Tone and Style of Audience: After researching audience preferences and finding the dominant audience members, brands must ensure that the content they produce aligns with their audience’s preferred tone and style.

Image Source : Pexels

Case Study:

Understand this with the example of GymShark, a fitness apparel brand. As its primary target audience is young, fitness-conscious individuals, the brand took the opportunity to use it for growth.

After testing with multiple types of content, including humorous skits, viral challenges, and informative content, they analyzed that the viral challenges are working for their brand.

So, GymShark participated in viral fitness challenges, and by the end of 2023, it had a whopping 4 million followers on TikTok.

Craft Shareable and Engaging Content

Businesses must catch the pace to stay ahead of the race. To do so, creating engaging, trendy, and shareable content is the only way, as it triggers the algorithm of TikTok to boost the brand’s visibility.

Participate in Challenges: Participating in trending challenges is one of the most effective ways to boost engagement. These challenges often go viral, and by aligning with them, brands can ride the wave of popularity. However, more than simply jumping on the bandwagon is required. Businesses should find creative ways to tie these challenges to their brand message.

Hashtag Strategies: Hashtags play a crucial role in increasing visibility. Popular hashtags, like # F.Y.P. (For You Page), help a broad audience discover the content. Meanwhile, niche-relevant hashtags specific to the brand or industry attract a more targeted group of viewers.

But here’s a point to remember: using hashtags doesn’t mean overdoing it will result in more reach. Using 3 to 5 carefully selected hashtags is often the sweet spot for maximizing reach without overwhelming the post.

Music Matters: The TikTok profile algorithm favors videos that use trending sounds or music. Incorporating popular songs or sound bites can increase the likelihood of a video appearing on the “For You” page. Businesses can enhance their content’s appeal and reach by selecting music that fits the video’s tone, whether upbeat, motivational, or humorous.

Case Study:

Chipotle is a popular fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain. It is a prime example of how brands can successfully engage with TikTok trends and challenges and create excellent business results.

In 2019, Chipotle launched the #GuacDance challenged TikTok to celebrate National Avocado Day and promote its free guacamole offer. Instead of merely participating in an existing challenge, Chipotle created its own and encouraged TikTok users to showcase their best dance moves in honor of guacamole.

The #GuacDance challenge became one of the most successful brand challenges at the time, generating over 250,000 video submissions and amassing 500 million views in just six days.

It was a massive hit not only in terms of engagement but also in terms of business results. The campaign led to Chipotle’s largest-ever digital sales day, with over 800,000 sides of guacamole served.

Cross Promote With Other TikTok Creators

Another hack through which businesses can grow their reach is doing cross-promotions and collaborations with fellow creators. When influencers with higher reach promote TikTok videos, you can also increase your reach by being visible on their profiles. Here’s the right way to cross-promote:

Find the Right Influencers: Brands should focus on influencers whose audience aligns with their target market to ensure maximum engagement and relevance. Here are some steps to effectively find the right influencers:

● Clearly define their target audience. This includes demographics such as age, gender, interests, and location.

● Use tools like TikTok’s search feature or influencer marketing platforms (e.g., Upfluence, AspireIQ) to identify influencers in the relevant niche.

● Identify the influencers with higher engagement rates and follower counts.

● Brands should review potential influencers’ content style and tone and ensure that it aligns with the brand’s image.

Image Source : Pexels

Creative Collaboration Strategies: After finalizing which one is the right influencer for the business, make them understand the business’s goals, objectives, and expectations so that they can create content accordingly. To do so, set clear goals, encourage authentic storytelling, provide samples and resources, and listen to their feedback.

Measuring Influencer Impact: After putting all the effort into the campaign, how can businesses analyze whether it was successful? To do so, track and measure influencer partnerships’ return on investment (R.O.I.) on TikTok by evaluating the sales data from their TikTok content.

Case Study:

Daniel Wellington, a Swedish watch brand, used influencers to grow its brand presence and increase sales. They understood that their target audience consisted mainly of fashion-conscious millennials and Gen Z consumers active on social media, especially TikTok. So, they collaborated with micro and macro followers on TikTok with similar audiences and demanded to create content that aligned with GenZ’s interests. Their TikTok content went viral, and as a result, they experienced a boost in their brand’s engagement, as most of their videos had 1 million views.

Share User-Generated Content For Growth

User-generated content (U.G.C.) is a powerful tool for brands on TikTok, allowing them to tap into the creativity and authenticity of their TikTok audience. Here’s how businesses can effectively motivate their followers to create U.G.C.:

Create Platform-Specific Challenges: Businesses can launch engaging challenges that align with the short-form content type. For instance, a beverage brand might create a challenge where users share their most creative drink recipes using the brand’s products.

In those challenges, ask the followers on TikTok to use hashtags to increase the brand’s visibility. Businesses can also announce gift voucher discounts or a free product for the best U.G.C. creator. This will encourage the audience to participate in the challenge.

Use Duets and Stitch Features: The duet and stitch functionalities allow brands to interact with U.G.C. creatively. For example, a dance apparel brand might duet a user’s dance video while showcasing their products. This approach creates engaging content and encourages users to continue sharing their videos.

Case Study:

Hollister launched the #InMyDenim challenge, inviting users to showcase how they style their Hollister denim. The brand created a catchy song for the challenge, making it easy for users to participate and share their unique looks. By combining U.G.C. with trending hashtags, Hollister increased engagement and saw a surge in brand awareness as users showcased their individuality while wearing the brand.

Running Ads and Paid Promotions

According to Adobe, 54% of brands already use TikTok to market their brand, as it is one of the potential marketing platforms. If you want to grow your TikTok followers quickly, you can do so by running paid ads on TikTok content. This will help in instant growth as running ads promotes TikTok videos to wider audiences.

Ad Formats: Here, you can run ads in multiple formats, including in-feed and TopView ads. In-feed ads appear natively within a user’s feed along with organic content. They are great for driving website traffic or generating app installs, as they allow clickable C.T.A.s (Call to Action).

TopView ads are the first thing users see when they open the app, offering premium placement and full-screen exposure. They’re perfect for brands looking to make a first impression and gain maximum visibility.

Case Study:

E.l.f. Cosmetics, a brand known for affordable beauty products, launched a highly successful campaign that effectively combined organic and paid strategies. Their approach mainly focused on using this platform’s viral nature while incorporating targeted advertising.

The centerpiece of E.L.F.’s strategy was their branded hashtag challenge, #EyesLipsFace. The brand worked with influencers and creators to launch a challenge centered around a custom-made song that encouraged the users to show off their best looks featuring their products.

While the challenge started organically, E.L.F. used In-Feed Ads and TopView Ads to promote the hashtag challenge and ensure it reached a broader audience. This campaign was a win-win for the brand as it generated over 4.7 billion views and received 5 million user-generated videos, making it one of the most successful branded hashtag challenges ever.

Wrapping Up!

All in all, it is a great platform to grow your business if it’s used correctly. One needs to deeply understand the algorithm of the platform and the kind of content this platform demands to be a viral sensation. Above mentioned tips include:

  • Identifying the target audience.
  • Creating engaging, trendy, and shareable visual content.
  • Partnering with influencers.
  • Sharing U.G.C. content.
  • Using paid marketing at TikTok can significantly help you achieve your brand’s market goals and crash sales.

Cordelia Bexley is a leading expert in the niche of business growth on TikTok, focusing on creative strategies to maximize engagement. As an author, she has garnered attention for her practical and innovative tips that help brands thrive on the platform. Her article, Business Growth on TikTok: Creative Tips for Maximum Engagement, offers actionable insights into leveraging TikTok’s unique features for business success. With years of experience in digital marketing, Cordelia has built a reputation for helping businesses harness the power of short-form video content to boost their visibility and customer engagement.

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